1 million miles on Mobil 1??? What do you think?

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And if the engine seized Mobil would have added it to the web page?

It's an ADVERTISEMENT. Not incredible at all. Why not do the same with 30 exact cars each: Redline, Bobzoil, Amsoil, Pennzoil, Valvoline...etc

My favorite part: "....stopping only for routine oil changes....."
 
What about it? It's not a big deal. You could run any engine that far on any oil. Wear numbers might not be as great though using a dino. These were also field tests and they weren't actually miles an everyday driver would put on.
 
quote:
Originally posted by MinnesotaNole:
Has anyone checked out Mobil 1's website and the 1 million mile test?

What is your opinion of this test?

Is this test legit or are the results geared in Mobil's favor?

This is incredible if legit!!!!!!!
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BMW authenticated the results, so the test was legit (and this was the old pre TriSyn formula).

I have read the test protocols, and they did a pretty good job of approximating "real world" driving conditions. In other words, this was not just a case of putting the car on a dyno and letting it run at 70 mph for 7500 miles and then stopping just long enough to change the oil.
 
Guys just to be clear when I say a sample of 30...I'm NOT BS'ing....

This is an attempt to establish a sample MEAN that would approximate the entire population mean. IE an oil = 0.000X" mean wear, b oil = 0.000Y" mean wear.....30 should be enough to show a normal curve and if not normal then we dig deeper as to why. Then we could compare SD's (amongst the oil groups). You get the picture. Expensive, yet meaningful.

The thing to question here is a sample of 1 could be an outlier, could be perfect rep. of the mean. Who knows?

I thought BMW was Castrol...oh that's F1
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Pablo, I agree. This study does nothing for me. You would need more of a sample size and more brands of oil. All of the oil companies like to do studies like this that tout there oil.
 
Actually this was a totally legitimate test. It was done back in the dark ages, when there were but a few synthetics available, mainly AMSOIL and Mobil 1. Mobil was still trying to build a market in those days.

They used Mobil 1 5W- or 10W-30, lighter in viscosity than the BMW recommended xW-50. The wear was minimal, far less than would be expected by the use of any of the non-synthetics then available.

And yes, the oil was changed.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Pablo:
Guys just to be clear when I say a sample of 30...I'm NOT BS'ing....

This is an attempt to establish a sample MEAN that would approximate the entire population mean. IE an oil = 0.000X" mean wear, b oil = 0.000Y" mean wear.....30 should be enough to show a normal curve and if not normal then we dig deeper as to why. Then we could compare SD's (amongst the oil groups). You get the picture. Expensive, yet meaningful.

I thought BMW was Castrol...oh that's F1
grin.gif

Click to expand...
Pablo, I think this was more of a case of "let's try this and see what happens." And while one must be careful about the any assumptions drawn from the results of the test, one can't dispute the results themselves.

As for the BMW/Castrol connection, this test was done several years before Castrol and BMW signed their agreement for the supply of all OEM fluids.
 
If memory serves me right that study as done in the 1980's. It took them something like 2 years of driveing in S. Africa around a closed circuit. I do not see where the results are any less valuable then our individual UOA posts. I have never seen good hard science from any oil company or magizine. Why??? Becvause it cost alot of money to do 30 vechile fleet test for every oil and no one has any thing to gain by sponsoring such a test!!!! The only way to really do this type of thing would be if the DOE did it.
 
quote:
Originally posted by JohnBrowning:
If memory serves me right that study as done in the 1980's. It took them something like 2 years of driveing in S. Africa around a closed circuit.
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I don't think so. I read it was all done on a dyno. And if you notice the license plate on the car in the photo (the one used), it's a New Jersey plate, and NJ is the location of BMW's North American corp headquarters.
 
What's up with the pic of the odometer showing 1000000. As far as I can remember, NO odometer can show that. Can you say Adobe? How can one believe anything else that's said in that report??
 
quote:
Originally posted by Dr. T:
What's up with the pic of the odometer showing 1000000. As far as I can remember, NO odometer can show that. Can you say Adobe? How can one believe anything else that's said in that report??
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Huh? This kind of stuff is done all the time for illustration purposes. It doesn't call into question the validity of the test or the results.
 
quote:
What's up with the pic of the odometer showing 1000000. As far as I can remember, NO odometer can show that. Can you say Adobe? How can one believe anything else that's said in that report??
Click to expand...
The odometer in my car goes to 999999 miles. Close enough.
tongue.gif


But I agree with Dr. T, showing a pic of a fake one million miles is cheesy. At least they should have stated that the pic was altered.
 
Maybe it does go to 999,000. Ah, Dr. T just can't stand Mobil 1.
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Just kidding.
 
The test was legitimate.

It proved that with that car, that oil, and those circumstances, you get that result.

Is it valid for comparison to your car, your car's metallurgical/assembly defects, driving style, climate, oil et al ?

Not necessarily.
 
Wasn't one of these tests conducted on a banked oval at a steady speed, stopping only for driver relief and routine oil changes and never allowing the engine to cool to ambient temperature for the duration? Ideal operating conditions for any engine and oil. I believe the same model car with the recommended weight and API service spec dino oil would be able to complete that test, too, under those conditions. That doesn't make the test bogus. But it is easy to overlook the fact that the test parameters were idealized to achieve that high an operational mileage on the engine.
 
Hi,

I have run heavy diesel engines out to over 1 million miles with very little wear. On semi synthetic oils at 25000 mile drains!

Currently I have a number of engines nearing 600000 miles on Delvac 1. Oil changes are done at 62000 miles along with filters and I use a by-pass centrifuge now as well for soot containment

Detroit Diesel took a valve cover off one engine yesterday at 550000 miles and it was as "clean as a whistle" inside - well almost anyway

Most testing like the BMW event is carried out on computerised test bed "cycled" 24 hours on simulated real road profiles. This has been done for at least the last 25 years that I know of by the Germans

Regards
 
OK!!! I remember that test now. M1 used to send a video tape of that test being run and then the engine tear down to all the stores. It used to play in a loop type fashion. I was thinking of another test all together. I think they yanked that from circulation when BMW signed on with Castrol!!! I know the last time I saw that tape run was at a Quality Farm and Fleet somtime between 1993 and 1996 I think!!
 
I am confident Mobil has done this test at least twice. Mobil in Europe ran a BMW (E32, I think) for 1,000,000 miles but this was on a dyno.

Something to bear in mind is that these cars ran 24 hours a day, so no cold starts and were driven by folk who took it easy whilst driving. This is not to say it is not impressive, it is. What would have been very interesting to see, is a direct comparison with another oil using the same conditions.
 
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